About Sean Kheraj

I am an associate professor of Canadian and environmental history in the Department of History at York University in Toronto, Ontario. I am also director and editor-in-chief of the Network in Canadian History and Environment where I host and produce Nature’s Past: Canadian Environmental History Podcast. These are my current research areas:

Oil Pipelines and Canadian History

My current research looks at the social and environmental consequences of the development and operation of oil pipelines in Canada. I have started with preliminary work on the history of oil pipeline spills in Canada. This project will provide a quantitative history of the transportation of liquid hydrocarbons via pipeline since 1949. It will also explore the historical social, economic, and environmental consequences of on-shore oil spills in Canada. Readers can following this project through my online articles here.

Animals and Urban Environments

I am also conducting research on the historical interrelationship among humans, non-human animals, and urbanization in Canada. Canadians built their major cities in the nineteenth century with animals in mind. They were places intended to facilitate symbiosis between people and their domestic animals and exclude wild animals. During the twentieth century, Canadians worked to extirpate most of their domestic animals from the urban environment (except for those used for pleasure or companionship). My research aims to understand how these historical changes in urban human-animal relations transformed cities and changed human ideas about their relationship with non-human nature.

Ecological Imperialism

I am beginning work on a new research project that will examine the social and ecological consequences of the transfer of biota from the Old World to North America and the history of European colonization and biological expansion in Western Canada through a case study of the Red River colony. European colonization of Western Canada was dependent upon the transfer and propagation of plants, animals, and microbes from the eastern hemisphere. These invasive species were vital partners in European expansion in North America and facilitated substantial ecological transformations. This project has the potential to expand our knowledge of how human societies have responded and adapted to swift, fundamental ecological changes related to the introduction of invasive species.

Parks and Conservation

My prior research explored historical conservation and parks policy to understand the role that people have played in creating protected natural spaces in Canada. In particular, my work on parks focuses on the interactions between human expectations of idealized wilderness and the volatile and unpredictable condition of complex ecosystems.

I am the author of the book, Inventing Stanley Park: An Environmental History. This book explores the changing relationship between humans and a relatively small peninsula on the Northwest Coast of North America that became a world-renowned urban park in the late nineteenth century. The book covers the long history of Vancouver’s Stanley Park from its deep geological past to the present, from its original occupancy by Coast Salish First Nations to its resettlement by European and Asian colonists to its transformation into an urban park. This book is now available for purchase from UBC Press and on Google Play. You can read a preview chapter from the book here [PDF].

I have also published several peer-reviewed scholarly articles and book chapters in edited collections:

I am the producer and host of a monthly podcast on the environmental history community in Canada called Nature’s Past. New episodes are available every month through the website and iTunes. I am also a regular contributor for Activehistory.ca and The Otter~La loutre.